Good, Malukah. I successfully completed the first week of The Artist’s Way and can confirm, it’s awesome so far.
The amount of thoughts I have in my head in the morning is unbelievable. It’s no wonder I struggle to focus during the day.
Between things I have to do for the house, life, work, projects, worries, family, friends, insecurities… My mind scrambles like a busy hostess making sure all her party guests are entertained.
Taking a moment to acknowledge these thoughts and write them down instructs them to calm down and wait to be addressed. It’s like hitting the snooze button on a hundred little alerts swirling in the back of my mind.
I might be starting to feel a difference. Will continuing this exercise help me improve my focus longterm?
I hope so!

Thor still doesn’t get morning pages. He’s like, “Whatcha doin?”
I loved one of the assignments this week which involved breaking down your life in 5-year blocks and listing your biggest heroes or influences for each.
I thought it’d be quick and easy… I actually kept going back day after day adding more people that I suddenly remembered.
It’s been awesome to think back and see how this list on paper maps the path my life has taken. These people helped shape me. And there are more. I’ll keep adding.
Please, please, if you have a moment, do this exercise. It’s a mental workout! And if you do, let me know how it went.
Did you struggle to remember? Was it easy? How long did it take you?
Here’s my list so far.
Thanks for reading!
Malu
PS: Next week, I plan to repeat this exercise, but listing musicians that influenced me.
5 Comments
A very interesting activity, to say the least. It was, to some degree, hard mental work. However worthwhile as it make oneself remember the specifics of what & why someone inspired us. It brings it out again and therefore it cannot blend as easy into the background of our lifes (not forgetting the person / occasion). Last it makes us remember the people who are those heroes. Quiet a few of those people are not in my life anymore, either because life takes a different route or they have passed away. But it they had an impact on ones / my life, soo all good :).
Thank you for this exercise.
TheAlb
September 22, 2018 at 10:56 amPS: it was actually mentally hard work, for some of those age ranges, it felt easy. However there were 2 ranges were it was hard and one of them I didn’t initially think I could name anyway (There was still someone so π …). I suspect I will add to that list as well. How long did it take me … hmm … the “pre-work”: since you posted it. Actually sitting down and writing it around 1.5h with coffee support and now I feel somewhat drained. π
September 22, 2018 at 11:01 amTheAaaaalb! Thank you for trying this. I’m glad it helped you remember. And yes, remembering can be draining! hahaha! Our poor brains are like, “whyyyy? whyy do you make me go baaaack?” haha! To this day, I continue trying to remember more details about a few ranges, too, because I feel I’m forgetting several moments/people. Hopefully they’ll resurface so I can add them to this chart π
September 25, 2018 at 3:53 pmMy favourite book! and funnily enough keep finding extra copies for a few bucks in op shops so I’ve given them to my kids. The other one by her that’s good too is Walking In This World (Practical Strategies for Creativity). I also love Betty Edwards’ books Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and Drawing on the Artist Within. Thanks so much for posting your thoughts on the book and for your influencers π
April 2, 2019 at 5:07 amOoooh now I’m curious about Walking in this World! Thanks for the recommendation, Riteasrain! π
April 27, 2019 at 9:49 pm